endorsed the Velasco family, who were running for various offices in Marinduque. Political career Provincial Administrator of Marinduque (2008–2009) Early in his law career, he served as the chapter president of the IBP in Marinduque. In January 2008, he was appointed as the provincial administrator of Marinduque by Governor Jose Antonio Carrion. He also headed the Provincial Tourism Council where he focused on "sports adventure and community-based tourism". He resigned as provincial administrator on December 1, 2009 to file his candidacy for the province's lone House seat. House of Representatives (2010–present) In the 2010 elections, running under Lakas–Kampi, Velasco defeated Edmundo Reyes, the son of then-incumbent representative Carmencita Reyes. Velasco became the first elected government official in his family. Velasco was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2013 by Regina Ongsiako Reyes, daughter of incumbent Governor Carmencita Reyes, but Velasco disputed Reyes' victory by noting that Reyes was a United States citizen during the election and was thus ineligible to hold the office. Both the Supreme Court and the COMELEC upheld Velasco's protest. Despite this, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte maintained that a decision to remove Reyes from her seat is up to the House Electoral Tribunal, where Velasco's case to remove her was still pending. Velasco was later proclaimed as the legitimate representative of Marinduque's lone district and assumed office on February 1, 2016. He is the incumbent representative of the Lone District of Marinduque and chairman of the House Committee on Energy. He is also the chairman of the Oversight Committee on Solid Waste Management Act and co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission. Speaker (2020–2022) With Cayetano's refusal to honor the term-sharing agreement after 184 representatives rejected his offer of resignation on September 30, 2020 and abruptly suspending the House's session on October 6, 2020, Velasco called on Cayetano to resume the House's session before November 16, 2020. He and his allies also affirmed their intent to conduct a session on October 14, 2020 to formalize his assumption as Speaker of the House of Representatives. During a gathering of 186 representatives at Celebrity Sports Complex in Quezon City, Velasco was elected as House Speaker on October 12, 2020, two days before the term-sharing agreement that he and Alan Peter Cayetano agreed upon in July 2019 went into effect. However, Cayetano disputed Velasco's election and called the gathering a "fake session." On October 13, 2020, Cayetano tendered his